‘All water activities are prohibited. Beachgoers are urged to heed this warning unwaveringly, because disregarding it could result [in] outbreaks of waterborne diseases, that may be fatal,’ the city cautioned. Several Durban swimming beaches are facing extended closures because of high sewage pollution levels and chemical and oil pollution from a variety of sources — including a sludge overflow from the mothballed Sapref oil refinery during the devastating floods last month. Across the city, several municipal sewage treatment works, pump stations and effluent pipelines have been damaged — prompting the city to issue a strong warning to bathers to stay out of the water until E. coli (sewage bacteria) levels drop to safe levels. “All water activities are prohibited. Beachgoers are urged to heed this warning unwaveringly, because disregarding it could result [in] outbreaks of waterborne diseases, that may be fatal,” the city cautioned in a statement. Government sources suggest that six municipal treatment works (in North Durban, Tongaat, Umhlanga, KwaNdengezi and the South Durban area) and up to 50 sewage pumping stations around the city were damaged by the severe April floodwaters. The contents of a sludge dam at the Sapref (Shell/BP) refinery in South Durban also ended up in the sea south of the city after the Umlaas Canal overflowed early on 12 April. While Sapref spokesperson Hlengiwe Hlela confirmed at the time that several refinery staff had been evacuated because of flooding, she offered no details about the environmental impacts. However, Facebook posts from refinery staff show clear evidence that at least two large fuel storage tanks were leaning over at nearly 45 degrees. Google Earth satellite imagery also reveals visible evidence of a long, dark oil pollution stain along the beach immediately south of the refinery. Neither Hlela nor Shell communications officials responded to requests for further information on Thursday, but two independent sources have confirmed that a large sludge dam at the Sapref refinery overflowed when the Umlaas Canal burst its concrete banks at the height of the recent KZN flood. One source estimated that somewhere between one million and two million litres of sticky bituminous sludge and heavy hydrocarbons were involved, and said that a clean-up crew from Spill Tech had been engaged to clean up the mess in the vicinity of the Isipingo Beach and estuary. As many as 130 refinery staff were also reported to have been airlifted to safety by helicopter teams at the height of the disaster. Now that the pulse ...